Denmark to build two giant “energy islands”

Denmark announced the ambitious plan of tripling its off shore wind power production by building two ‘energy islands’ linked to new wind farms in the Baltic and North seas.

The project is rumoured to cost upwards of 100 billion Crowns (around R261 billion), and according to Denmark’s climate minister Dan Jorgensen, will be the “biggest single infrastructure investment in the history”.

Jorgensen also went on to confirm that the island project would be financed through public-private partnerships, with the majority of the funding coming from private investors.

One of the two energy islands will be located on the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm and represents the world’s first island dedicated to producing wind energy. The second of the two islands will be located an artificial island in the North Sea.

The Danish government intends on constructing at least 2GW of new offshore wind power around each island by the year 2030. If all goes to plan, the North Sea Island has the potential to be expanded to 10GW.

Denmark said it would work with other European countries including Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany, with the view that these countries might use some of the power generated from these energy islands.

“This is all about making sure that when we build new offshore wind farms, as many countries as possible can benefit from the electricity they are going to be generating,” said Giles Dickson, head of the Wind Europe lobby group.